Unexpected Love
by kassmarie
Summary: Derek leaves Meredith heartbroken. But soon, a new man is sharing her bed. Is it love or just sex? How will everyone react? Read to find out!  Rating subject to change. Includes many other characters as well, but mostly focuses on Mer/Alex.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy or any characters, obviously.**

_**A/N: Hey everyone! This is my first Grey's fic so feedback is welcomed! I suspect this story will be pretty long... more than a few chapters. Let me know if you like where it's going! **__**Constructive criticism and suggestions are encouraged! **__**Review, review, review! **_

_**Also just some background info. There's really no specific time period this story is in, I'm just taking bits and pieces that I like. George and Callie are married and living at the hotel. Derek and Addison are together and living at the trailer. Cristina's with Burke - not married. There's no Denny. There's no Ava. Izzie, Alex, and Meredith live at the house.  
**_

* * *

Meredith woke to the smell of baked goods. It was the only thing that could get her out of bed these days, though she wouldn't admit it. Most of the time she didn't even have the energy to get up and shower without Izzie forcing her to. Not after Derek had chosen Addison. She still couldn't believe after everything the two of them had been through that he had picked the bitchy red-head, and left her to be alone.

_Whatever._ She thought. _It's not like I can do anything about it anyway._

The original hurt had eventually turned into anger and her anger soon became a cold, steely, 'determined-to-be-over-it' attitude. Meredith crawled out of bed and slid on the sweatpants she had managed to kick off during the night. She glanced out the window as she walked by, seeing yet another drizzly, gray day. She looked away disgusted.

_Why do I live in Seattle, again?_ She asked herself.

Meredith wandered into the kitchen and found the source of the delicious scent that had awoken her. Izzie was pulling some sort of dark, chocolate-covered, muffins out of the oven.

"Mer! You're up!" She placed the plate of warm goodies on the counter next to another batch of golden blueberry muffins.

"Umph." Meredith mumbled.

"I baked for you! I figured you could use the cheering up. Since, you know... the whole Derek thing..."

"Ugh. Don't talk about it, I haven't had my coffee yet." She moved past Izzie to turn the coffee pot on then dropped into a chair at the table.

At that moment Alex walked in, looking in even worse shape than Meredith.

"Coffee." He grumbled, clearly not fully awake yet. He plopped down across from Meredith and put his head on the table.

"It's coming." She responded, "What's wrong with you?"

"Hungover." his voice was muffled by the hard surface.

"Alex! Muffins!" Izzie brought two plates over and set them in front of the grumpy duo.

"How can you be so perky, ALL of the time?" Alex asked, lifting his head to look at her.

"Oh, c'mon guys! It's going to be a great day!"

"What's so great about it?" Meredith moped. Alex gave her a look that said _My thoughts exactly_.

* * *

An hour later, the three doctors walked into Seattle Grace Hospital and got on the elevator. They were about to head up to the surgical floor when a mans hand squeezed in and stopped the doors from closing. Suddenly, Derek Shepherd had joined them. Meredith felt her chest tighten at the sight of him, and suddenly found there wasn't enough oxygen in the confined space.

"Good Morning Dr. Stevens, Karev." Derek nodded his greeting in their direction, "...Meredith."

"Good Morning Dr. Shepherd!" Izzie answered, not wanting to be rude to her superior, even if he had broken her friends heart. Alex just ignored him and Meredith muttered "It's Dr. Grey to you, now." under her breath. He pretended not to hear her.

The door finally dinged, signaling they had reached their destination. Derek let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding and fled the elevator as quickly as he could. Izzie was just glad to get out of the tension-filled space.

As Meredith started walking down the hall, Alex grabbed her wrist and pulled her back until she was face-to-face with him. She looked at him with confusion in her eyes.

"Mer, don't pay attention to Shepherd. He's an ass." He dropped her arm and started walking towards the interns locker room before glancing back and adding, "You deserve better."

Meredith stood there for a minute in shock, thinking about what she had just heard. It didn't seem like much, but it was a lot coming from him. He was Evil Spawn, after all. She wondered when in the world Alex Karev had become the voice of reason.

* * *

Meredith walked into the locker room and started putting on her scrubs.

"Hey Mer." George looked up when she entered the room. He wanted to say more. To say that he was sorry for what she was going through. To say that even though he moved out, he was still there for her. But he knew it was probably a conversation that shouldn't be had in front of the others. And he didn't want to push the wrong buttons, knowing how fragile she was lately. So he said nothing.

Alex began digging around in his locker, apparently not having the guts to look Meredith in the eye after his little confession. Cristina looked sideways at her friend, noticing the far-away look in her eye.

"Joe's tonight?" She asked.

"Nah... I don't think so." There was no emotion in Meredith's voice. It was like Derek took her ability to feel with him when he left.

"Mer, c'mon." The fact that Meredith was saying no to alcohol worried Cristina. She'd seen her friend in less than pleasant situations before... I mean she was dark and twisty... and had a bad habit of sleeping with inappropriate men. But a few nights of dancing it out and drinking tequila usually brought back her spark.

"Cristina, please. I just really don't think it's a good idea."

"Why not?" She scoffed. "You've never had a problem drowning your problems in alcohol before. Especially when it comes to McDreamy." Meredith didn't have a response.

"No, you know what, no. You're coming to Joe's. You need a night out. We'll get drunk and stupid, and you'll mope and whine for awhile, then George will get us a cab home."

"Hey, leave me out of it." He interjected.

"Then we'll laugh until we cry, and pass out in your bed. We'll have horrible hangovers in the morning. Then you'll be back to normal."

Bailey charged into the room before Meredith could protest again.

"Rounds in 5 minutes! Then Yang you're with Dr. Burke, Karev you're with Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd, Stevens with Torres, O'Malley and Sloan, and Meredith you're with the other Dr. Shepherd." Meredith let out a large sigh which received an apologetic look from Izzie.

"C'mon, don't just stand around people, get to work! Move it!" Bailey shouted, and the interns rushed out of the room. She stopped Meredith before she could leave.

"Listen Grey, I know it might be hard for you to work with Shepherd today. But focus on the medicine. I don't want to hear about any patients dying because you two are too busy arguing to do your jobs, you got that?" Meredith just nodded and walked away.

_What is with everyone and stopping to talk to me about Derek, today?_ She wondered. _I'm fine. Totally fine. Why does everyone think I'm about to fall apart? I'm fine._ The thought was more to convince herself than anything else.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: Hey everyone! This is my first Grey's fic so feedback is welcomed! Let me know if you like where it's going! **__**Constructive criticism and suggestions are encouraged! **__**Review, review, review! **_

* * *

When Meredith was finished with her rounds she went looking for Derek and found him standing at the empty nurse's station reading a chart. She took a deep breath and walked over to him.

"Meredith." He turned toward her with a wary look._ "_Can we please talk?"

"It's Dr. Grey." She answered trying to keep her voice calm.

"Meredith, please." He rolled his eyes.

"It's Dr. Grey!" She said a little louder. "And no Dr. Shepherd, unless it's work related, we cannot talk. I'm not even remotely close to being okay enough to talk to you."

"Fine. Dr. Grey." He sighed and turned back to his chart. "I need you to check on Ms. Swanson in 2014. Make sure her vitals are still good. Then I need you to handle these post-ops." He slid a rather large pile of charts in her direction.

_You have got to be kidding me. _She thought. _There have to be 15 charts there, that's going to take me all day._

"Seriously?" She asked him incredulously.

"Yes, Dr. Grey, seriously."

* * *

Meredith slammed her tray down on their usual lunch table, and blew her bangs out of her face with a big huff. All four of her fellow interns jumped at her entrance.

"Bad day?" George's mouth full of food didn't stop him from worrying about his obviously angry friend.

"Ooh, how's working with McDreamy?" Izzie asked, cringing.

"Hell. It's like I fell off the face of the Earth and landed in Hell." She answered sitting down.

"Well he is married to Satan." Cristina countered.

"Don't remind me." Meredith muttered back. Knowing she probably wanted to vent to Cristina, George and Izzie looked away and started talking to talk amongst themselves. Something about him scrubbing in with Sloan on an burn victim that afternoon.

"First he called me Meredith instead of Dr. Grey, twice! Then he tried to talk! And not about a patient, he wanted to talk-talk. About us." Meredith complained to her person. "Then when I wouldn't, he gave me a whole stack of post-op charts! I've been doing paperwork all day!"

"Wow, I wouldn't have pegged Derek as the spiteful type." Cristina answered.

"There isn't even any good surgeries to get my mind off of it." She pushed her food around with her fork, not actually eating any of it. "I wish a trauma wold come in."

"I don't. I'm scrubbing in with Burke on a double valve-replacement. I don't need any distractions."

"Lucky." Meredith pouted.

All of a sudden Alex, who hadn't said a single word since Meredith sat down, got up and left.

"Hey, do you know what's up with him?" Meredith whispered to Cristina so the others wouldn't hear.

"Who? Alex?"

"Yeah, we had to take the elevator with Derek this morning. And after he pulled me aside and told me not to worry about Shepherd, and that I deserved better."

"Woah! Evil Spawn said that?"

"I know, it's weird right? And now I feel like he's avoiding me."

"You don't think he has a thing for you, do you?" Cristina laughed.

"No. No way. Definitely not. I mean, it's Alex. Right?"

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right. That'd be too weird." She shook her head. "Plus, he's a whore." She added with a shrug.

"So what should I do? Should I talk to him about it?"

"I don't know. Do you want to talk to him about it?"

"I don't know." Meredith sighed. _When did my life become so complicated?_ "Maybe I will tonight."

* * *

Another 6 hours later, Cristina had successfully dragged Meredith to Joe's. They had just finished their 3rd shot of tequila when Meredith glanced down the bar.

"Should I go talk to him now?" Alex had walked in 10 minutes before and was sitting at the opposite end of the bar. He looked exhausted and was nursing a beer.

"Here have another shot first. Then go." Cristina noticed how nervous her friend seemed about questioning her roommate, though she couldn't imagine why, it was just Alex. I mean, they lived together for god-sakes. Meredith tipped her shot glass up enjoying the burning sensation in her throat as the tequila went down. She got up, walked the 6 feet over to Alex, then sat down next to him.

"Hey." She said.

"Hey back." He looked over at her briefly before focusing his eyes back on the bottle in front of him. "What's up, why aren't you over there with Yang?"

"Umm... I kind of wanted to talk to you about something."

"What?" He looked thoroughly confused.

"Um, uh, you know... that stuff you said. Earlier... This morning. By the elevator..."

He suddenly looked very nervous. "Uh, yeah. What about it?

"Well, just... um. I don't know. Why'd you say it?"

He gave his classic Alex smirk in response. "Look Grey, I know you all think I'm just an arrogant, sex-addicted, stuck-up, asshole... but I do have my moments."

_There it is. _She thought. _There's the normal Alex that's been missing all day._

"So... did you really mean that stuff you said? About me deserving better?" He paused for a moment before looking directly into her eyes.

"Yeah, I did."

She shifted in her seat, looking uncomfortable. She was flattered, really. It was just an odd statement coming from him.

"Okay. Well, thanks." She nodded.

"Look, Mer." He could tell she still unsure about something. "It wasn't really a big deal. I could tell he was bothering you, that's all. Don't think I'm going all soft. And plus, I fuckin' hate that guy."

Meredith laughed. "Yeah, okay. I get it." He smiled at her in return, and she stood up to go back over to Cristina.

"So, I'll see you at home then?" She added before leaving.

"Yeah, see you."


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: Hey everyone! This is my first Grey's fic so feedback is welcomed! Let me know if you like where it's going! **__**Constructive criticism and suggestions are encouraged! **__**Review, review, review!

* * *

**_

It was another hour and four shots later when Cristina was pulling an obviously drunk Meredith out of a cab and into her house. She'd just set her in bed and placed some Advil on her bedside table and started to leave, when Meredith cried:

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going home."

"B-But, you always stay and cuddle with me when I'm drunk!"

"Yeah, but I told Burke I'd be home tonight. Remember?"

"So you're leaving me drunk and alone and miserable so you can go have nasty-nasty surgeon sex with you're nasty-nasty attending boyfriend?"

"Uhh... yes. Yes, I am."

"I hate you."

"You love me."

* * *

Meredith couldn't sleep. She was drunk and horny. Very horny. She was used to having inappropriate men in her bed on nights like these. Or Cristina. But tonight she was alone. And she didn't like it one bit.

She got out of bed and creaked her door open. The house was dark and quiet as she crossed the hallway.

A groggy Alex woke to Meredith standing in his doorway wearing nothing but an oversized t-shirt. Suddenly she was crawling in his bed and laying down next to him.

"Mer, what are you doing?" He asked surprised.

"Can I just sleep in here tonight? Please, I'm lonely."

"Uh, yeah. Okay. I guess." _Great, there's no way I'm going to be able to sleep tonight. Couldn't she at least have put some pants on? Jeez._ He thought.

After a few minutes of silence, he suddenly felt a small hand on his bare chest. It was caressing his skin, gradually venturing lower and lower. He turned over.

"Mer? Meredith, what are you-" Suddenly her lips were on his. She forced her tongue into his mouth, as she moved to straddle his body. As Alex processed what was happening he pushed her away, forcing them to break the kiss.

"Meredith, what are you doing?" He repeated

"C'mon, I'm horny." She tried to kiss him again, but he pushed her away a second time.

"Are you drunk?"

"A little." She slurred. His face looked strained, like he was having some sort of internal debate. She started rubbing her hands up and down his chest.

"Alex." She spoke softly. "Are you really going to say no to sex?" That was all he needed to hear. He wrapped his arms around her and flipped them so he was on top. He looked at her for a moment before giving in and entangling his tongue with hers.

_So what if she's drunk?_ He thought. _This is my chance to finally be with her. I'm not gonna say no. She probably won't even remember it. _He pushed away the voices in his head that were screaming at him to stop, and telling him this was wrong._  
_

Alex had had a school-boy crush on Meredith since the first day of their internship. But then she was with Shepherd, and Alex had become her friend. Then George moved out and he moved in. There was no way he would ever admit it to anyone. There was no way he would ever act on it. I mean, she was Meredith. He was Alex. It would never work. But here she was. In his bed. Kissing him.

* * *

Meredith woke up the next morning with a pounding headache. She tried to shake her fatigue away, but then felt a body shift next to her.

_I didn't bring anybody home last night, did I? _She thought. _No, I definitely didn't._ That was when she opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. Confused, she looked next to her and saw a sleeping Alex. She threw a hand over her mouth to cover the sound of her gasp.

"Oh my God." She whispered. "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God." She quickly lifted up the blankets, and after seeing they were both naked, she threw them back down.

She sat there in shock for a minute before slipping quietly out of his bed, and grabbing her clothes off the floor.

When she was back in her room she allowed herself to freak out.

"How did this happen?" She wondered aloud as she frantically paced around the room. She knew exactly who to ask. She picked up her phone and dialed a familiar number.

After 3 rings a groggy voice answered on the other end.

"Hello?"

"Cristina!"

"Mer? What's going on?"

"What happened last night?" She hissed. "Why'd you leave me alone?"

"I told you, I had plans with Burke."

"Ugh." Meredith groaned. "I did something stupid. Really, really, stupid."

"Uh-oh. What kind of drunken trouble did you get into this time?"

"I sort of... um... slept with... Alex."

"WHAT?"

"I know, I know! I woke up this morning in his bed... Naked."

"Oh, Mer." Cristina laughed. "You've truly out-done yourself this time."

"Shut up! It's your fault, you made me go to Joe's, and then you left me alone!"

"Don't blame this on me!"

"What am I going to do?" Meredith was hoping her friend would be a little more helpful.

"Don't ask me. You're on your own on this one."

* * *

Meanwhile, Alex was waking up to an empty bed. At first he didn't know what to think of it. Should he be happy he didn't have to confront the situation right now? Should he be worried that she ran away? He started to get up and go downstairs when he heard a frantic voice coming from Meredith's room. He stood there for a moment, before figuring out she was on the phone. He could probably guess what she was talking about. And who she was talking to.

Suddenly her door swung open and she saw Alex standing there.

"Oh, um. Hi. Mor-Morning." He stuttered, trying to come up with a reason as to why he was standing outside her bedroom door.

"Were you eavesdropping?" She demanded in return.

"N-No. Um, what are you talking about?"

Just then Izzie came out of her room, saving him from coming up with an explanation. She glanced between her two roomates standing in the hallway, noticing how nervous and fidgety they both looked.

"What's up with you guys?" She asked.

"Nothing!" They exclaimed at the same time, then quickly retreated to their own rooms.

Izzie stood there by herself for a second, confused.

"Um, okay..."


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: Thank you all so much for all of your lovely comments! I love to hear what you guys think, good or bad! I hope you enjoy this chapter, and remember, keep reviewing! :)

* * *

**_

Meredith was sitting on the floor of a supply closet on the 5 floor of the hospital, where she had just finished recapping that morning's events to Cristina. Every horrid detail.

"So let me get this straight." Cristina stated, obviously confused. "You slept with Alex..."

Meredith nodded.

"You were drunk."

Meredith nodded again.

"But he was sober."

"Yes." Meredith said, exasperated. All of a sudden a wicked grin spread across the face of her dark-haired friend, and she started snorting uncontrollably.

"Oh, oh, oh. This is _too _good."

"What are you talking about? _Why_ are you laughing?"

"You honestly don't see it?"

"Again, _what_ are you talking about." Meredith questioned.

"First Alex gets all mushy and tells you that you can do better than McDreamy. Then he avoids you. And then when you show up in his bed drunk, and he sleeps with you. While he was sober. And knew exactly what was going on."

"I'm still not following..."

"Mer, how can you be so_ dense_?" Cristina wanted nothing but to shake some sense into her friend. "He's totally in love with you!"

"WHAT? No! No, no, no. No way. It's ALEX. Uh-uh. Not possible. You're delusional." Meredith was shaking her head furiously. _That can't be right. No, she's just kidding around. This is some kind of joke she cooked up with him. Alex is the biggest man-whore in the hospital, besides Sloan. There's no way he could have feelings for me. It was just sex! That's all, drunk sex. _Meredith's frantic internal ramblings were about to give her a headache.

"Really, I'm delusional? We'll see about that." Suddenly, Cristina grabbed Meredith's pager off of her waistband and started clicking buttons.

"Cristina! What are you doing?"

"Paging Evil Spawn. You guys obviously have some things to talk about."

"Are you _crazy_?" Meredith tried to wrench the small object out of Cristina's hands, but it was already too late.

* * *

Meanwhile, Alex was standing with Addison in the NICU. They had just taken an infant out of it's incubator, to let her parents hold her for the first time. His pager started beeping, and after glancing at it, he excused himself.

"Uh, sorry Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd, I have to take this." As he was walking down the hall he wondered: _Who would be paging me to a supply closet? It could only be Meredith. She probably wants to talk about last night. Oh my God, what am I gonna tell her? I'm so not ready to deal with this yet. Do I tell her how I feel? No way, that's not happening. But wait, maybe she just wants to hook up again... _He suddenly perked up at the idea.

As he stood outside the door to the closet he heard Meredith and Cristina's frantic whispers:

"I can't believe you did that! What am I supposed to say?"

"Relax, it'll be fine!"

He opened the door and saw the two girls staring up at him wide-eyed.

"Um... you paged?"

Cristina took that as her cue to leave. "I'll just leave you two alone." She said with a sly smile, before walking out and closing the door behind her.

"So, um. What's going on?" Alex asked as Meredith stood up.

"I'm sorry, Cristina paged you. That wasn't me."

"Okay... So why did Yang page me to a supply closet?"

"She thought we should talk. You know... about last night."

"Oh. You told her?"

"Well, yeah. I needed to process. She's my person."

"Well, come to any conclusions?" He was antsy, waiting for her opinion on what happened between them.

"Look Alex, I don't really know what that was last night. I don't know what it means."

He could tell that she was freaking out. He felt bad, he didn't mean to cause her any more stress. He knew she was going through a tough enough time as it was.

"Meredith, listen. It's really not a big deal. You were drunk. We had sex. No worries. And I'm not gonna go run around and tell everyone."

She was staring at him uncertainly.

"It was just sex, Mer." He repeated.

Half of her wanted to scream at him for being an insensitive asshole and taking advantage of her when she was drunk. The other half realized it was just what he had said: not a big deal. She had used him, too. She was drunk, and horny, and lonely, and trying to replace Derek. Technically she had done the same thing.

"Yeah, just sex. You're right."

"So... we're good?"

"We're good." She sighed.

Alex turned around hesitantly, and left.

_That's good._ She tried to reassure herself. _That's what I wanted to hear. Right? I mean, I knew he didn't have feelings for me. It's Alex, of course it was just sex. I mean, that's what it was for me too. A replacement for Derek. Because I don't have feelings for Alex. That's just absurd. _

So why was it that she felt a small pang in her chest, as the door shut behind him?


	5. Chapter 5

**_A/N: I'm sorry this chapter is a little late, and a little short. (And I'm aware that it's total crap.) I've been pretty busy lately dealing with a family emergency. I hope to update more regularly (and with better quality) soon! Thanks for the comments and sticking with me :) Don't forget to review!_**

_

* * *

_

Later on that day Cristina came up to Meredith as she was leaving a patients room.

"So?" She asked.

"So...?" Meredith stared back at her blankly.

"So, how'd it go with Karev?" Cristina made a big show of rolling her eyes.

"You were wrong."

"Excuse me?"

"I told you. It was just sex."

"I should have known." Cristina said shaking her head.

"Should have known what?"

"It's Alex. He doesn't talk about feelings. He definitely doesn't admit to having them. Just because he says it was just sex doesn't mean that's how he really feels."

"Cristina, will you please just let this be. It happened. We're over it. We're good. You're the only one making a big deal about it."

"Yeah, whatever. Just don't come freaking out to me when it happens again." Cristina raised her eyebrows at her friend before walking away.

* * *

The next few weeks were seemingly uneventful, which didn't set well with Meredith. There was always some sort of drama going on, and the quiet made her uneasy.

The other thing that was irritating Meredith was Alex's continued avoidance of her. Which was saying something, seeing as she was the queen of that particular action.

Every time she saw him and he turned in the other direction, whether it be at the hospital or their own house, it reminded her of what happened between her and George. She mentally kicked herself for ruining another friendship because of her drunken insecurity. She decided she wasn't going to let her relationship with Alex go down the same path.

That night she knocked on his bedroom door, hoping to clear the air.

"Come in." He spoke softly.

Meredith walked into his room as he was sitting on his bed and pulling a shirt over his head.

"Hey Mer." He shifted his eyes to the floor, looking uneasy

"I want to talk to you about something." She said directly. _No need to beat around the bush_. She thought.

"Okay. What's up?"

"I miss you."

"Uh... you miss me?" He said as face broke out into a grin. " Like, does that mean... you mean you wanna... you know... again?"

"No. No, that's not what I meant." She said quickly.

"Oh." His smirk suddenly disappeared._ Smooth move, idiot. Now she's gonna think you_ _just want to use her for sex._ "Right."

"What I meant was... that you've been avoiding me... since we slept together. And I miss you. I miss our friendship."

Alex just looked at her, not quite knowing what to say.

"I want things to go back to the way they were before." She reiterated.

"I want that too." He finally admitted.

"We both know what happened. It doesn't have to be awkward." She looked down wringing her hands. "I know we weren't super close... before. But, I'd like to get to know each other better." She sat down on the bed next to him so she didn't have to look him in the eye.

"Mer, do you know how corny you sound?" He laughed.

"Shut up." She shoved him, playfully.

"But, I'd like that. You know... the friends thing." He smiled and squeezed her hand.

"Good." She smiled back, feeling much better about their relationship. "Well since that's out of the way, lets get started on step one of... this plan needs a name."

"A name?" He asked confused.

"Yeah... the 'become-better-friends plan'! "

"Wow, that's brilliant Mer." He said mockingly.

"Shut up, I can't expected to be clever on the spot."

"So, anyway. What's step one?"

"Movie night."

"Movie night... really?" He asked skeptically.

"Yeah, you know, vegging out on the couch... popcorn..."

"Okay, but no chick flicks."

"Alex, do you realize who you're talking to?" She laughed, before going downstairs to pick a DVD.

Once she was gone, Alex smiled to himself. As corny and stupid as it sounded, this plan of Meredith's seemed like a pretty damn good idea to him.

* * *

Later on that night, Izzie was on her way out when she heard hysterical laughter coming from the living room. She peeked her head in, wondering what was going on.

"Guy's... what are you doing?" She saw Alex mercilessly tickling Meredith as she ineffectively threw popcorn in his face and called out an unconvincing "Stop!". Knowing how distant they'd been with each other lately, the scene was shocking to say the least.

"Movie night." Meredith said as her giggles died down. "Wanna watch with us?"

"Uh, no thanks. I was just leaving actually." She replied pointing towards the door.

"Okay. See you, Iz."

"Later." Alex nodded.

After Izzie left, Alex and Meredith looked at each other, grinning.

"She's gonna think we're crazy." She said.

"I know, we're like the last two people on Earth who sit around and... laugh. I wouldn't be surprised if she's on the phone with psych right now."

"Whatever. I'm happy where I am. Izzie can think whatever she wants." Meredith sighed happily as she layed her head on his chest to finish the movie.

Alex looked down at her a little shocked at her sudden boldness. Eventually he wrapped his arm around her, pleased when she didn't pull away.


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N: I'm pretty proud of this chapter. I hope you guys like it, too. :) Please Review! I love getting feedback!**_

_**

* * *

**_

Alex was happy. This was a new feeling for him. Was used to feeling full of himself, angry, stressed, hurt, indifferent? Yes. But genuinely happy? No.

And he knew exactly what had caused this sudden, but welcome, change. Meredith. He'd never known what it was like to truly have a friend. Someone who will always be there for you, no matter what. But that's what Meredith had become to him.

Alex had never had a real relationship with a woman that wasn't purely physical.

Meredith had never had a real relationship, period. She didn't count the time she spent with Derek. It was fake. He was pretending he was free from his marriage, when he wasn't. She was pretending that someone like him could truly care about her.

But that's not the way it was with Alex. He didn't judge her. He had a past, too.

They would lay around for hours, him telling stories about his abusive youth, and her giving a realistic picture of what it was like to grow up with Ellis Grey as a mother.

Even though Alex and Meredith were just friends, it was the most healthy relationship either one of them had ever had.

People watched them. The hospital staff, other interns, their friends. No one understood what had happened between them. No one understood the bond they'd come to have. Even Cristina was confused how Meredith could have drunken sex with yet another inappropriate man, and instead of pushing him out of her life, she let him in.

* * *

It was about a month after Meredith's movie date with Alex. Cristina had just finished putting on her scrubs when Meredith had come into the locker room.

"What's wrong with you?" Cristina asked.

"Nothing. Why?" Meredith smiled back at her.

"Yes, something is wrong. You're smiling."

"Last I heard it wasn't illegal to smile, Cris." She replied, rolling her eyes.

"It is for you. You're bright and shiny. Why are you bright and shiny?"

"I'm happy Cristina. I'm actually happy for the first time in as long as I can remember." Meredith looked at her friend, suddenly very serious. "I'm enjoying my life. I'm enjoying being happy. Let me."

Cristina looked stunned. She didn't know who she was looking at anymore. If Meredith was this new bright and shiny person then she didn't have a best friend anymore. Because the Meredith she knew and loved was dark and twisty. She could handle dark and twisty. She didn't know what to do with this new, happy, Meredith.

"Are you sure we don't need to send you up to psych?" Cristina asked, placing the back of her hand on Meredith's forehead. Humor was the only way she knew how to deal with this.

"I'm fine." Meredith laughed. "Look, I'm still the same person. I'm just not as... grumpy."

"Whatever you say." Cristina still looked unconvinced.

It was then that the other three interns walked in.

"Hey Mer," Alex asked. "Are we still on for tomorrow?"

"Yeah, definitely." She smiled.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" Cristina asked confused.

"Alex is taking me to a Mariners game."

"A Mariners game? Mer, you hate baseball."

"No I don't." She said defensively. "I've never really given it a try."

"You'll love it." Alex said. "There's nothing like sitting behind home-plate, eating hot dogs, drinking beer, standing up and cheering with everyone around you..."

"Dude, you got home-plate tickets?" George looked up.

"Jealous, Bambi?" Alex smirked.

"Yeah." He mumbled in return.

Meanwhile, Cristina was staring at Meredith. "You're really going to this... game, thing?"

"Yes, I'm really going to this game, thing. I don't understand what the big deal is. People go to things like this all the time."

"Not people like you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Meredith asked, suddenly offended. _What the hell is her problem?_ She wondered.

Before things could get ugly Bailey barged in to give assignments. Meredith gave Cristina a final glare before leaving for rounds.

"Well, today should be fun." Izzie, who had just been observing, spoke as she turned to leave as well.

* * *

Alex sat down for lunch with his other interns. Cristina was no where to be found.

"What was Yang's problem this morning?" Alex asked.

"I don't know. She's really pissing me off. She was giving me hell before you guys came in, too." Meredith replied.

"I think she's jealous." Izzie put in.

"Jealous of what?" Meredith asked.

"Of you two." Izzie motioned between Alex and Meredith, with her fork.

"What do you mean?" It was Alex's turn to be confused.

"You guys have obviously gotten close over the last few weeks. You're both... happy. Which is weird for all of us. And Cristina probably feels like you're taking her friend away from her." She looked at Alex when she said the last part.

"He's not taking me away from anyone." Meredith defended.

"When was the last time you hung out with Cristina?" Izzie asked.

Meredith didn't know what to say. She couldn't remember the last time she'd hung out with her best friend. _How can I not remember? _She asked herself. _I know we went out for drinks the night I slept with Alex. It really couldn't have been that long, could it?_

"See?" Izzie responded to Meredith's silence. "She feels like she's been replaced."

"It's not like that." Meredith shook her head.

"Maybe she's right." Alex said quietly.

"What?" Meredith asked him, surprised.

"We have been hanging out a lot... maybe we should skip the game. You should spend some time with Yang."

"No." She said firmly. "I want to go to the game. Cristina will get over it. I'll talk to her."

"Are you sure?" He asked skeptically.

"Yes, I'm positive. I really want to go do this with you." She then looked at Izzie. "I promise I'll talk to her about it. And I promise to make more of an effort to hang out with her."

"Okay." Izzie said. "C'mon Alex, we've got surgery with Dr. Sloan." And with that, the two doctors left the table.

Meredith sighed and looked to George.

"You've been quiet." She said.

"Just minding my business."

"Un-mind it."

"Huh?"

"I trust you. I value your opinion. Tell me what I should do."

"I don't know what to say, Mer. You know I'm always here to listen. But I can't tell you what to do with your life." He smiled before adding "Especially when it comes to those two. Either one of them could kick my ass."

She just looked at him with sad eyes.

"Fine, you want me to be blunt?" He gave in. "If you want both Alex and Cristina in your life for any significant amount of time, you need to do something to fix this."

"I know that, George. I just don't know_ what_ I'm supposed to do."

"You'll figure it out." He stood and kissed her cheek. "Got to go find Callie." He threw his tray away before leaving the cafeteria.


	7. Chapter 7

**_A/N: Hey guys! Sorry this has taken me a while to post, I've been pretty busy. And frankly I just haven't had the motivation for this story. I hope this chapter isn't too disappointing. Please, review! Good or bad, I love feedback. :)_**

**_

* * *

_**

Alex knocked on Meredith's bedroom door at 10:00 the next morning.

"Hey." She opened the door smiling.

"Hey, you almost ready?"

"Yeah, just let me grab my purse." Meredith grabbed her bag and followed Alex down the stairs.

"Iz, we're leaving!" She called into the kitchen before rushing out the door.

"So." She said, after they were situated in the car. "Why are we leaving so early, I thought the game didn't start unitl noon?"

"Mer," He laughed. "You_ have_ to go early. You don't just show up right before it starts. You need time to find your seats, get food, all that stuff."

"Shut up." She playfully shoved him. "I've never done this before, remember?"

"Right." He smirked.

* * *

After another hour and a half, they had managed to find their seats behind home-plate, get comfortable, and snag a couple hotdogs.

"So, have you talked to Yang yet?" Alex asked, trying to make conversation.

"No." Meredith sighed. "She's still pretty ticked I'm came here with you today. But, I'll talk to her soon."

"That's good." He nodded, before taking a bite of his over-stuffed hotdog.

"I feel like she should just get over it." Meredith continued. "I have a lot of fun hanging out with you. If she's really my friend she should be happy that I'm happy."

Alex was flattered that their friendship meant that much to her. But he also knew how important Cristina was to her, as well. He wasn't prepared to take her place.

"Mer, I know you're frustrated with her, but she's your best friend. Don't forget that."

"I know." She said. "I'm just irritated, is all."

"Let's cut this mushy crap, and have some fun." He nudged her, as the announcer came on to start introducing the players.

* * *

It was halfway through the game, and Meredith was thoroughly confused.

"Wait." She said, sipping from her 2nd beer. "I don't get it. How come he can run if no one hit the ball?"

"Seriously, Mer?" He laughed. "You really don't get this?"

"I told you! I don't know sports!"

"Baseball is like the easiest sport to understand..." He said incredulously.

"You still didn't answer my question."

"It's called _stealing_ the base. He's allowed to run if he thinks he can make it to the bag before the pitcher has time to throw the ball to get him out." He explained.

"Isn't that cheating?"

"No Meredith, it's part of the game. It's in the rules." He talked as if she was a 5-year-old.

"Well,_ sorry_." She rolled her eyes at him.

* * *

Now it was bottom of the 9th.

Two outs.

Two strikes.

One Ball.

Two men on.

The score was tied 6 to 6.

"This is it Mer!" Alex shouted over the screaming fans. Everyone was on their feet, clapping, and cheering. "If the pitcher throws a strike, we go into overtime. If our guy hits it we could take the game."

The pitcher threw the ball... right down the middle... The batter watched it fly through the air, faster and faster, right over home plate.

*CRACK!*

_"IT'S OUTTA HERE!" The announcer shouted._

"Wooooo! Yeah, go Mariners! Woooo!" Meredith started shouting and jumping up and down, not noticing how ridiculous she looked.

Alex just looked at her and laughed, and then start cheering with the rest of the fans.

_"AND THE MARINERS TAKE THE GAME, 8 TO 6!"_

_

* * *

_

"So." Meredith started to speak. The two had made it back to the house, but continued to sit in the driveway. They were still full of energy from the game. "Will you walk me to my door?" She asked with a twinkle in her eye.

He laughed. "Well, since it's my door too..." He walked around the car to open the door for her.

"Why, thank you, sir."

They made their way to the porch, both hesitant to head inside.

"I had a lot of fun today." Meredith spoke softly, looking up at Alex's face.

"Yeah, me too. I'm glad you came with me." He reached down to squeeze her hand.

She leaned her head slightly towards him, and he mirrored her actions.

_I think he's going to kiss me_... _Do I want him to kiss me_?_ I hope he kisses me_! Meredith's thoughts were running wild.

He moved closer to her, his hand finding the curve of her waist. His lips were centimeters from hers. She closed her eyes as she felt his breath on her face. Just before his lips touched hers...

"Hey!" Suddenly the door swung open and Izzie almost crashed into them.

Alex and Meredith immediately pulled away from each other.

"Izzie! Wh-where are you going?" Meredith stuttered, obviously flustered.

"I was headed to the hospital... My shift is 7 to 7. I wanted to go early and finish some paperwork for Bailey." Izzie said slowly, looking confused. "Why are you guys standing out here?"

"We were just coming in." Alex said casually, as he slid past the blonde and into the house. "Later, Iz."

Meredith just smiled at her friend before following Alex.

He headed towards the Kitchen quickly, trying to avoid Meredith and dealing with their close encounter just moments before.

Meredith ignored the gesture and hurried up to her room.

She didn't know what to think about her almost-kiss with Alex on the porch. It was too much for her brain to handle at the moment.

She decided to tackle a less-threatening topic, and dialed Cristina's cell.

* * *

She had called 3 times and her friend still wouldn't pick up.

"Fine." She muttered to herself. "If you don't want to come to me, I'll just come to you."

She grabbed the hospital directory off her bookshelf and found Burke's number. He answered on the 2nd ring.

"Hello?"

"Um, hi. Dr. Burke. It's Meredith. Uh, Dr. Grey."

"Yes, Dr. Grey." He said slightly annoyed. "What can I do for you?"

"Um, I was just wondering if you happened to know where Cristina is? She's not answering her phone."

"I believe she said something about grabbing a drink. I assume she meant Joe's."

"Okay, great. Thank you, Dr. Burke." She quickly snapped her phone shut, before grabbing her keys and heading out once again.

* * *

Meredith opened the door to Joe's, and instantly saw who she was looking for. Cristina was sitting at the end of the bar, in their usual spot. She had a barely-touched glass of bourbon in front of her.

Meredith slowly made her way over to her friend, sliding onto the stool next to her.

Cristina glanced at her.

After a few minutes of silence Meredith finally spoke, "You wouldn't answer my calls."

"Yeah, well. I'm busy."

"Yeah, I can see that." Meredith rolled her eyes.

Cristina was annoyed at how persistent Meredith was being. _Yeah, now you want to talk to me_. She thought to herself, sarcastically.

"What do you want, anyway?"


	8. Chapter 8

**_A/N: I'm much prouder of this chapter than I was of the last. I hope you like it! Review! Especially if you like the quick update ;)_**

* * *

_"What do you want?"_

"Cristina... you know I'm not good with this stuff."

"What stuff?" Cristina feigned ignorance.

"You're gonna make me say it, aren't you?' Meredith saw the corner of her friends mouth turn up at her comment. "Fine. Cristina, I'm... sorry."

Cristina just coughed, urging Meredith to continue.

"I'm sorry... for not spending as much time with you lately. And... picking Alex over you. And... I promise I'll make an effort to... fix it. You're my person. I won't let anyone come between us." She finally finished.

"Okay."

"Okay? Really, that's it? That's all you have to say?"

"Yeah, you're forgiven." Cristina shrugged. "Actually you were already forgiven but I just wanted to hear you're little speech." She smirked.

"I hate you." Meredith laughed.

"No you don't. Here, drink." Cristina slid her glass over to her friend, offering her the bourbon.

Meredith was glad that Cristina was back on her side. She hated when they were disagreeing. It was like a small part of her wasn't fitting quite right. Everything was thrown off-balance.

The tiff between the two girls had more of an affect on Meredith than she had admitted to anyone. She gave a large sigh of relief when she realized she wouldn't have to choose between her old friend and her new one.

"So, how did your game, thing, with Karev, go?"

"Oh, it was okay." Meredith shrugged. "We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." She was hesitant to push Cristina's buttons. She didn't want to put a strain on their mending relationship.

"Shut up, I can tell something happened. Spill."

Meredith proceeded to tell Cristina every detail of her day with Alex, paying special attention to their almost-kiss.

When she was finished, Cristina just looked at her. "Girl, you are in so much trouble."

"I know." Meredith sighed. "I don't know what to think. I mean he obviously wanted to kiss me. He_ tried_ to kiss me. And... I think I wanted him to."

"Wait, you _wanted_ him to kiss you? I thought you said this is just a friends thing. No repeat of that night... no more sex."

"We didn't have sex, Cris. It was just a kiss. Not even a kiss."

"Yeah but a kiss just happening is different than you wanting to happen."

"I hate when you're so rational." Meredith frowned.

"I'm always rational." Cristina responded.

"So, we had sex once. We're friends. And we want to kiss each other... What does that mean?"

"That means you're in a relationship."

Meredith's eyes went wide. "We are not in a relationship!"

"Well, you're headed that way."

"B-but, I don't want to be in a relationship. I _can't_ be in a relationship!" Meredith was starting to freak out. "Look what happened with Derek, I can't go through that again. A-And Alex, he doesn't do relationships. He can't stay with one person."

Cristina looked startled, she wasn't prepared for Meredith's mini-breakdown.

"I-I'm not ready for this. I mean, I like Alex, I have fun with him. And obviously I'm attracted to him... but, we can't be _together._ Not like that."

"Well I don' think that's how he's feeling." Cristina raised an eyebrow.

"Oh no." Meredith put her head in her hands. "Why do these things always happen to me?"

"Look Mer, you just have to talk to him."

"_How?_"

"Just tell him exactly what you just told me."

* * *

"Alex?" Meredith called through the house, when entered a little while later.

"In here!" He called back from the living room. She looked in and he was sprawled across the couch watching Sports Center on TV.

"Can I talk to you for a sec?" She asked.

"Yeah, sure." He muted the TV and looked toward her.

"Okay, so I don't really know how to do this, so I'm just gonna say it. We almost kissed today, and th-that's not a bad thing. I like you, I really like you. And I like hanging out with you. A-And I wanted to kiss you. And I know you wanted to kiss me too. Or at least I think you did, cause you tried to. And I think when you try to kiss someone, that means you want to kiss them." Meredith had started pacing around the room and was talking so fast Alex had a hard time keeping up with her. "Anyway, my point is we want to kiss each other. We're friends who're attracted to each other. A-And I don't know what that means. I-I don't know if that means we're in a relationship, or you want to be in a relationship with me. Which I don't why anyone would want to be in a relationship with me, anyway. But I really don't think I'm ready for that. Being in a relationship, I mean. And I like you. And I don't want to hurt your feelings, and I don't want to ruin our friendship. Because I really like having you in my life, b-but I just really don't think I'm ready for this!"

"Mer-Mer-Meredith!" Alex cut her off. "Calm down."

"Okay." She was exasperated and slouched into the chair next to Alex's couch. "Okay, yeah."

"You really need to stop freaking out." He smirked at her.

She glared back at him.

"Okay about you're little rant... Yes, I was going to kiss you. Yes, I wanted to kiss you. Yes, we're friends. Yes, we're attracted to each other. No, it doesn't mean we're in a relationship. But, we could be... you know, eventually."

Meredith was starting to calm down. Something about the way Alex was so relaxed put her at ease.

"I don't want to rush you into anything... and God knows I'm not good at this stuff either. But... being around you makes me feel like a better person. It makes me feel like I could be in a relationship, and not screw it up. I really, really like you. But we don't have to jump into things so fast."

"I like you too." She said softly, looking into his eyes. "So much. You make me feel safe."

He smiled at her. He wasn't used to this way Meredith made him feel. Warm, complete, like he was _good_.

"So... let's not rush this. We can stay friends... and we can, you now, do... more... if you want. But we don't have to be in a relationship... we don't have to be committed right now... we can just... have fun."

"Okay." Meredith smiled. "I'd like that."

"Good." He said, before reaching over and cupping her face with his palm.

Before Meredith could blink, she felt his warm lips capture hers. It wasn't an urgent kiss, it was soft and tender, but it didn't lack passion. She slipped her tongue into his mouth, aching for more.

Alex could feel the sudden urgency in Meredith's lips, and responded by pushing harder against her. He buried one hand in her hair, and wrapped the other around her waist.

He broke away from her, and brought his head down to kiss her collarbone. He slowly made his way up her neck, leaving a trail of kisses. She moaned softly when he began nibbling on her ear.

She pushed her body up towards him and he responded by grabbing her bottom and lifting her up so she could wrap her legs around around him. He made his way up the stairs and into his room, without leaving contact with her skin.

Alex laid her down on the bed, and Meredith kissed him feverishly.

"Are you sure want to do this?" He asked quietly.

"Yes." She breathed. "I want to remember it this time." She smiled softly before capturing his lips once again.


	9. Chapter 9

**_A/N: I know this chapter is a little late and a little short, but I promise to make up for it! The weekends are usually the only time I have to write for this story so I'm going to try to get a few chapters done during each weekend, so I have something to hold you over during the week. Reviews are lovely. :)_**

**_

* * *

_**

Meredith woke up the next morning with the feeling of strong arms wrapped around her. Normally, she'd shy away from such personal affection, but with Alex it just felt right.

When she felt him shift behind her, she knew he was awake. She turned around in his arms to face him.

"Hey." He said before kissing her good morning.

"Hey." She replied softly, enjoying their closeness.

"Are you still freaking out about this?" He questioned.

"Not at all." She smiled.

"Good." He kissed her again, thankful he wouldn't have to sequester his urges around her any longer.

"We have to get up soon, though." She sighed.

"No." He mumbled into her neck.

"Izzie'll be home soon."

"So?"

"So, I thought we were going to keep this quiet for a little while? We don't need everyone talking about it and judging us, when _we_ don't even really know what we are yet." He was silent so she added, "You know they will."

"I know, you're right."

"It's not that I'm ashamed of it or anything." She said quickly, suddenly worried that he thought she didn't want him.

"I know." He laughed at her naivety. "It's just that it'll be hard to hide it from our only other roommate. She'll find out eventually."

"Yeah, but eventually doesn't have to be this morning." She didn't want to ruin their alone time with talk of how they were going to explain that alone time to other people. "Let's talk about it later, okay?"

"Sure." He smiled and kissed her forehead before getting up to shower.

* * *

Later that morning, at the hospital, Meredith walked up to Cristina in the cafeteria. The over-achieving intern was poring over a chart with an intense look on her face.

"Where have you been? I've been looking for you for half an hour." Meredith questioned as she sat down.

"I've been here."

"I can see that." Meredith rolled her eyes. "What are you doing, anyway?"

"I'm studying up on new patient of Burke's. He thinks that people are suspicious that he's giving me good surgeries because we're together. But I'm going to show everyone how _brilliant _I am, and that I _deserve_ these surgeries."

"Well, uh.. good luck with that."

"Mmm." She said in confirmation.

After 10 minutes of silence, Meredith couldn't take it anymore. She was bursting at the seams.

"So... I uh, I talked to Alex."

"You doin' the nasty?" Cristina asked bluntly, not looking up from her chart.

"Well, uh..." Meredith didn't know what to say. She had been planning how she was going to break this big news to Cristina, but it seemed like her friend already knew what she was going to say. Like it was expected. Maybe it was... "We're uh... we're not _officially_ together. But we're hanging out and you know spending time with each other..."

"You're doin' the nasty." Cristina smirked at her fidgety friend.

"Yeah." Meredith sighed and smiled. "We're having fun. I really like him."

"Yeah, whatever. Bright and shiny Meredith, I got it." Cristina went back to studying her chart. The words sounded hurtful, but Meredith could tell by the tone of her voice, it was all in fun.

"But, don't, uh, tell people... you know, about us. We're not really up for letting everyone know, yet."

"Yeah, yeah. I won't tell anyone you and Karev are all happy and smutty and in love." Cristina answered at a much higher decibel than was necessary.

"Jeez, can you keep it down? And we're_ not _in love." Meredith said pointedly.

"Yeah, we'll see how long that lasts."

* * *

A few hours later Meredith was standing at the nurse's station, replaying Cristina's words in her head, when she felt a body sidle up next to her.

"Hey." She felt Alex's hot breath on her ear.

'Hey." She smirked back at him as he pressed his body as close to hers as he could without drawing attention to them.

"I feel like I haven't seen you in ages." He whispered, ignoring the fact he had woken up with her just a few hours before.

"Down boy." Meredith giggled as she felt his hand rest comfortably on her waist. "As much as I'd love to go find an empty on-call room with you right now, and I would, we have to work."

"That's actually what I came to talk to you about." He said.

"Really?" She questioned.

"Yeah. Shepherd's got a craniotomy in an hour and he needs another pair of hands. He told me to come find you, since Torres doesn't have you on any surgeries."

"Oh, okay. Sure." She smiled.

"Kay, I'll see you in there." Alex kissed her cheek before turning to leave.

"Right behind you." Meredith called after him.


	10. Chapter 10

**_A/N: Hope you enjoy! Reviews are greatly appreciated! I love to hear your thoughts, it keeps me motivated. :)_**

* * *

As Alex walked away Meredith recalled a conversation from the interns locker room that morning. She realized that both Izzie _and _George had been assigned to the pit. Both of them would have been available for Dr. Shepherd's surgery, more so than Meredith, who was already on a different Attending's service.

Meredith groaned inwardly when she realized Derek had chosen her on purpose.

She had been doing her best to avoid him since they had broken up for good. The days when she was assigned to him were less than pleasant, spent by Meredith deflecting Derek's questions and desire to talk. She figured that he wanted to explain his actions, or something along those lines, but she didn't want to hear it. It was over. Done. Finished. What more was there to talk about? He had chosen Addison. End of story.

She knew the surgery that awaited her would take more than a few hours, and was not looking forward to spending that time in such close proximity to Derek.

Although, she felt much better knowing Alex would be in there with her. She knew he would stand up for her if Derek tried to cross any lines.

Meredith finished with her paperwork before heading to prepare for the Craniotomy.

* * *

They were an hour into the surgery, with many more to go. Dr. Shepherd was doing amazing work, only the way a world-renowned neurosurgeon could. Alex was assisting whenever needed.

Meredith had realized almost as soon as the procedure had began, that she wasn't actually needed in the OR. She knew that Derek had requested her because of purely personal reasons and it more than ticked her off. She wished she could be somewhere else in the hospital, actually _learning_ something. But she knew asking to leave would reflect badly on her, professionally.

"So, Dr. Grey..." It was the first words Derek had spoken, other than asking for utensils.

"Yes, Dr. Shepherd?" Meredith asked, hoping he was going to actually let her _do _something.

"How have you been?" He returned.

"Excuse me?" She asked, thoroughly confused.

"Well, since you refuse to speak to me outside of the OR, I figured this would be a good time to catch up." He said casually. But Meredith knew him well enough to know he had ulterior motives.

Alex's extravagant eye-roll didn't go unnoticed by either doctor.

Meredith was acutely aware that there were many other people in the operating room, besides Derek, Alex, and herself. Several scrub nurses, and anesthesiologists, included.

"I really don't think this is an appropriate conversation to be having, Dr. Shepherd." Meredith finally managed to get out.

"Yeah don't you think you should be more focused on the patients exposed brain at the moment, instead of your ex-mistress' private life, _Dr. Shepherd_." Alex sneered. The urge to punch the neurosurgeon right in his smug face, had never been so prominent. Why did he continue to harass Meredith? He'd obviously moved on, why couldn't he let her do the same?

"I will speak to who I want, how I want, when I want. I will not be spoken to like that in my OR, ever again. You're an intern, you have no right to undermine my work, Dr. Karev. Do you understand?" Derek's voice rose, although he never took his eyes away from the patient.

Meredith was praying a big black hole would appear and suck her into its darkness. The hospital rumor-mill was going to have a field day with this one. Could a week even go by, when she wasn't the center of the entire hospital's whispers, and scrutiny?

"No, I don't _understand_. You're obviously more interested in interrogating Meredith, than treating the patient. I should report you to the Chief for malpractice!" Alex had begun shouting and several gasps could be heard around the room.

"Get out of my OR, Dr. Karev." Derek hissed.

"I can't belive you, dude! You-" Alex's continued yelling was cut off by Derek's booming voice.

"KAREV, OUT OF MY OR, _NOW_!"

Alex stared at Derek for a moment, hatred seeping out of his pores, before turning to leave. Tugging off his gloves and mask, in the process.

Meredith was just looking around the room, completely shocked. She knew Alex would stand up for her, but she never expected anything like this to happen.

Everyone in the room stayed completely quiet throughout the rest of the surgery, unless it was absolutely necessary.

Meredith knew that by the end of the day everyone in the hospital would know what happened, and would have something to say about it. She was equally dreading and impatiently awaiting leaving the OR. All she wanted to do was slink quietly out of the hospital, go home, and drown her sorrows in a nice big bottle of tequila. But, she knew that wasn't an option. There was work to be done.

* * *

When the surgery finally completed, the first thing Meredith did was go look for Alex. She knew how upset he was and she wanted to make sure he didn't do something stupid. Her post-op charts would just have to wait.

She finally found him laying in an on-call room, brooding.

"Hey." She said softly, closing door behind her.

He glanced up, registering her presence. "Hey."

"Are you okay?" She asked. He could hear the worry in her voice and it almost made him regret causing a scene. Almost.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Are you okay? Mer, I'm so sorry. I know I shouldn't have done that. But, he had no right to treat you like that... and he just made me so mad, I couldn't control myself."

"Hey, hey. It's okay." She went over to sit next to him. "I'm flattered that you stood up for me. No one's ever done anything like that for me before."

"You deserve it. You deserve so much more than that jackass."

"Thank you." She smiled. She was beginning to believe those words that Alex kept repeating to her. Why shouldn't she want more? She shouldn't have to settle for being someone's second choice. Anything she'd ever had with Derek was over. It was time to start a new chapter of her life.

"It was actually pretty hot..." She whispered with a twinkle in her eye.

Alex gave a small laugh, recognizing the tone of her voice. He leaned down and gave her a firm kiss.

"I'll never treat you like that." He pulled back from her, so he could look into her eyes. "I promise."

"I believe you." She smiled before kissing him again. She'd never experienced this before. This feeling of being wanted. Of truly being a first priority. No one had cared about her like that before. She couldn't figure out if this realization was more exciting or frightening.

Suddenly, Alex's pager went off, bringing them out of their daze.

"Shit." He said, as he glanced at the message. "It's the Chief. I gotta go. I'll be lucky if I'm not kicked out of the program."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Meredith asked, the events of the day re-entering her mind. She sincerely hoped nothing would happen to Alex. She could imagine working at Seattle Grace if he wasn't around anymore.

"No, I gotta deal with this myself." He stood up and walked towards the door. "Thanks, though." He added with a small smile, before leaving to go meet his fate.

* * *

When Meredith left the on-call room a few minutes after Alex, all of the surrounding staff, mostly nurses, stared at her and began whispering.

All of her anger and frustration of the day returned. The fact that Alex's calming presence was absent, didn't help.

"What are we in high school, now?" She asked rather loudly as she passed the annoying gossipers. It was there fault she didn't have any privacy in this damn hospital, anyway. "Why don't you go find something productive to do!" Everyone scattered, hearing her forceful words. Meredith might have been on the bottom of the surgical food chain, but at least she was above the made her way to the locker room to change into clean scrubs, running into Cristina on the way.

"Hey, I just heard what happened. Are you okay?" Cristina asked, as they entered the, thankfully, empty room.

"I'm fine." Meredith sighed in return.

"Derek sucked you into a surgery you didn't need to be in just to harass you, brought up your private life in the middle of the OR, and then kicked Alex out when he tried to defend you. You are so not okay."

"You're right. I'm not okay." The blonde intern conceded.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Cristina knew not to press the issue if Meredith wasn't up to it.

"No, I want tequila."

"Work, now. Tequila, later." The asian spoke.

Meredith groaned in return.


	11. Chapter 11

**_A/N: Hope you all enjoy the direction it's going! I didn't really plan this chapter out, I just kind of went with it... But I think it turned out pretty well. :) Reviews encouraged!_**

* * *

Meredith changed into clean scrubs and left to find Dr. Torres. She was supposed to be on her service today, after all. Maybe the raven-haired doctor would actually give her something to do.

She was passing The Chiefs office, on her way to find said doctor when she heard shouting coming from inside. One voice was unmistakably Derek's.

"You've got to be kidding me Chief!"

Meredith stopped in her tracks. She knew she knew she shouldn't but she leaned towards the door, trying to eavesdrop while staying discreet. She had to know what was going on inside that office.

"You're not going to kick him out?" She heard Derek continue. Then she heard a small laugh she immediately recognized. It was one she'd been hearing often, lately: Alex's. Her eyes suddenly widened, realizing the conversation she had accidently stumbled upon.

"No, Derek I'm not going to kick him out of the program." Chief Webber said calmly. "I'm not condoning his actions, they were unacceptable. However, I don't approve of yours either. You let your personal issues interfere with your work, and you endangered your patients life."

Meredith felt a wave of relief flood over her. Alex wasn't being kicked out of the program! She wasn't going to have to finish her internship, minus one of her best friends. She was also glad that Richard wasn't letting Derek completely off the hook, either.

"_I_ endangered the patients life?" Derek asked incredulously. "I wasn't the one who started screaming in the middle of the OR. He insulted me personally, and he insulted my work!"

"You started it, man! You assigned Meredith to that surgery just so you could attack her!" Alex shouted back.

At these words, Meredith felt a pang of regret. She felt that she was responsible for the mess that the three men in the office were dealing with. All the drama in the hospital seemed to revolve around her, and she didn't like it one bit.

"Hey, hey!" The Chief got the mens attention. "I'm sick and tired of all of doctors in this hospital letting their personal lives interfere with the important work we do here. Derek, I don't know all of the history between you and Meredith, and I don't want to know. That's your business. But leave it at home, you got it? You two have caused enough trouble around here."

"As for you Dr. Karev, you will no longer be working on Dr. Shepherd's service until further notice. Now get out of here. Both of you."

The door opened suddenly and Meredith gasped realizing she had been caught. Derek turned towards the noise and gave her a dirty look. "Figures." He muttered before heading in the opposite direction.

Meredith scoffed at his gave him the right to be mad at _her_?

"Mer." Alex said surprised, as he noticed her standing there. "What are you doing here?"

"I was walking by and I heard shouting. I was eavesdropping..." She admitted shyly. "But, you get to stay in the hospital, you weren't kicked out of the program!" She said brightly.

"Yeah." He smiled. "Chief definitely let me off easy. And I don't have to work with Shepherd, which if you ask me, is a reward, not a punishment."

"Maybe I should cause a scene too, god knows I could use that punishment."

"If it makes you feel any better, I think McDouche will be leaving you alone. Chief got him pretty good."

"So I heard." She responded. "But hey, I'll see you later, okay? I gotta talk to the Chief about something."

"Sure, see you later." He responded pleasantly, before heading in the direction Derek had went.

* * *

Meredith truly felt like this whole mess what her fault. She knew she wouldn't have a clear conscious until she apologized to the Chief. And that's exactly what she planned to do.

Nervously, she knocked on the Chief's door.

"Come in." She walked into his office, closing the door behind her.

"Meredith, hi." He said brightly, noticing who it was. "Come in, sit down."

Meredith sat in the chair across from his desk, warily. She wasn't quite sure how to start. All she knew was that she wanted Chief Webber to know how sincerely sorry she was for causing more problems around the hospital.

"What can I do for you?" He leaned forward, clasping his hands together on the desk in front of him.

"Um, I wanted to say that I'm so sorry for what happened today." Meredith made a point to look into his eyes when she said this, which wasn't something she did often.

"What for?" He raised his eyebrow at her. "You didn't do anything wrong. In fact, from what I hear, you handled the situation quite professionally. I'm proud of you."

"Well, thank you Chief. But, I really don't think I deserve that. It's my fault Derek and Alex were fighting."

"You may have been the topic of their argument, Meredith, but you couldn't do anything to stop them. You didn't ask for all of this attention."

Meredith felt uncomfortable at his kind words.

"And off the record..." He whispered. "I'd take Karev's side any day. Derek needs a taste of his own medecine. It's time he realized he doesn't run this hospital."

Meredith smiled, agreeing with the statement, wholeheartedly.

"Thanks Chief. I appreciate it." Meredith stood up and prepared to leave. "I should probably get going."

"Anytime, Meredith. You know my door is always open to you."

Meredith sighed with relief as she left his office. The Chief was proud of her. It was such a strange thing to hear. No one had ever been proud of her before. Not even her own mother, super-surgeon Ellis Grey.

* * *

Meanwhile, Alex was heading to the neonatal floor. Since he was kicked off of Dr. Shepherd's service he figured he might as well find something to do, that he actually enjoyed. Despite all of the interns jokes and snide comments, Alex truly preferred the Gynie Squad to any other specialty.

He finally found Dr. Montgomery in the NICU, looking over a newborns chart. Actually, when she wasn't delivering a baby, that's usually where you could find her. She liked being around all of the infants. It made the fact that she couldn't have her own children, just a little less painful.

Alex cleared his throat, so he wouldn't startle the attending. "Dr. Montgomery."

She looked up from the chart she was reading. "What do you want Karev?"

Alex could hear the bite in her voice. She was obviously in a foul mood. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, after all.

"Um, well. I was um... I'm not working on Dr. Shepherd's service anymore. And I was wondering if you could use some help. With the... babies."

"You had your choice of any attending in this hospital to harass for a good surgery, and instead you came here to ask if you could help with the _babies_?" She asked incredulously.

"Yeah." He said shyly, looking at the floor.

She was silent for a moment before finally agreeing. "Well, alright. We can never have too many hands, I suppose." She handed him a chart, and he proceeded to check the vitals of one of the preemies.

Alex kept glancing over at Addison. Her mood didn't seem to be getting any better, and he was curious what had made her so sour. He hardly ever saw her without a smile on her face, unless she was in surgery, or yelling at a staff member for their idiocy. "Can I ask you something personal?" He finally hedged.

"I guess it doesn't really matter, you're going to ask anyway." She sighed.

"Why are you so pissed off?"

"What?" She sounded genuinely surprised.

"You're in like, a _really_ bad mood." He smirked. "And don't pretend your not, because it's incredibly obvious."

"Yeah well, if you must know, I'm not having the greatest day." She looked at him pointedly. "No thanks to my husband." She added under her breath.

"Wait, this is about Derek?" Alex's eyebrows shot up, and a look of realization covered his face. "Woah, hold up. Is this about my fight with him?"

"No, _Karev_. It's not about _your _fight with him. It's about the fact that Derek continues to cause trouble around the hospital, and for some reason it always seems to be about _Meredith_. Sorry I'm a little irritated that my husband spends more time chasing after her, than speaking to me." The venom in her voice was hard to miss.

"Look..." Alex started slowly. "You have every right to be pissed at Shepherd. He's being a jackass, and treating you _and_ Meredith like shit. I know your upset, but you really shouldn't take it out on her. She's not asking for this attention. She'd prefer to move on in peace, but he's not really making that easy for her."

"Yeah, right." Addison scoffed. "She loves the attention. She loves the fact that he chose me but is still pining after her."

This comment rubbed Alex the wrong way. He liked Addison and enjoyed working with her, but he wasn't about to let her make false assumptions about Meredith.

"That's not true, she's moved on." He argued.

"Psh, yeah, okay." Addison rolled her eyes. "Who would she possibly be moving on with?"

"With me!" Alex barely stopped himself from shouting.

"Oh." Addison stood there slightly stunned. "Alex, I'm sorry... I didn't know." It was all starting to make perfect sense... Alex fighting Derek, standing up for Meredith. She'd seen the two of them around the hospital, everyone said they were inseparable. But, she never figured they were _together. _

"Yeah, whatever." He said cutting her off. He thrust the chart he was holding back into her hands and quickly left the room. The only reason he didn't slam the door behind him was because he didn't want to startle the babies.


	12. Chapter 12

**_A/N: I know this chapter is extremely overdue. I've had a lot of family things going on, and had to travel out of state for a funeral__, where I didn't have internet access. And I know this chapter isn't top-quality, but you'll have to forgive me. I also wanted to thank everyone for all of the reviews they've been leaving. I read every single one of them and truly appreciate it. :) Also, this story is far from finished, and I have plenty of ideas mapped out in my head, so don't give up on me now!_**

* * *

After storming away from Dr. Montgomery, Alex headed to the basement to the interns favorite hideaway. He sagged onto one of the empty gurney's and stuck his head in a textbook.

Studying always made him feel better. It had the power to take his mind off of whatever was bothering him at the time. And contrary to popular belief, he was a bit of a nerd. He'd never admit it, if you asked, but he loved the feeling of learning something new.

So that's where he sat, trying to forget about his encounter with the red-haired attending. Half of him was seething about Addison's insults towards Meredith, and the other half of him was worrying about how many people were going to know about him and Meredith by the end of the night.

As soon as he was free to leave, Alex bolted towards the front entrance. He was praying he could escape the hospital without having to deal with anyone.

It was a short-lived dream.

"Karev!" Alex stopped in his tracks, upon hearing his name. _What now?_ he thought, as he turned around to see who was shouting for his attention.

"What do you want Addison?" He asked, rolling his eyes._ Just my luck._

"Look, I just wanted to apologize again." She stared.

"Whatever, just forget about it." He turned to leave, trying his best get away without and further confrontation.

"AND," She added, grabbing his arm and turning him to face her again. "to let you know that I'm not going to tell anyone... about what you told me. Because I'm assuming you're not... public. Or I would've known."

Alex just stared at her.

"So... I just wanted to say you don't have to worry about that. About me telling people." Addison finished.

"Can I go now?" He asked, gesturing towards his arm, that she was still gripping.

"Uh, yeah. Sorry." She said, quickly letting him go.

Alex turned and headed out towards the dark, rainy, night. As he got in his car to drive home, he contemplated Addison's words. He was grateful he wouldn't have to worry about his secret being spread around the hospital. He just didn't know how long Addison's promise was actually going to last.

In the meantime, Alex didn't really see the need to tell Meredith that he'd slipped up. Especially not to her ex-boyfriends wife. _No, definitely going to keep this quiet_,_ for now. _He decided.

* * *

Meanwhile, Meredith was lounging in bed reading a medical magazine. She had headed home a few hours earlier when her shift ended.

"Mer?" Alex called out, as he came in the front door. After the day he had, all he wanted to do was hang out with Meredith. She was his best friend. He'd never had that with a girl he was dating, before. It was his favorite part of their relationship. Besides the sex, of course.

"Up here." She answered. She was glad he'd been able to leave the hospital, and didn't have to spend the night in an on-call room. Meredith knew he needed a good night's sleep, which was nearly impossible at work.

He climbed the stairs toward her voice.

"Hey." He smiled softly and leaned against the doorframe of her bedroom. She looked so cute, laying there with her hair a mess, and her ratty old Dartmouth t-shirt on.

"Long day, huh?" Meredith asked. She'd barely gotten through the day herself, she could only imagine how difficult it must have been for Alex.

"You can say that again." Alex answered, before walking over and crawling on the bed next to her. He kicked his shoes off. "I'm beat."

Meredith leaned over and kissed the tip of his nose. "You should sleep. _We_ should sleep." She threw her magazine on the bed-side table and turned to faced him.

"I could think of a few other things we could do, instead." He whispered before grabbing her face and giving her a proper kiss.

Meredith giggled, but protested nonetheless. "Too... tired..." She said in between kisses.

"I know." He sighed and leaned back. "I can barely keep my eyes open." As much as he would love to spend the night ravishing Meredith, he didn't even have the energy lift his head (pun intended), let alone pleasure her the way she deserved.

Suddenly, Izzie barged into the room, out of nowhere. She looked exhausted and pissed off. She plopped herself on the bed, on the other side of Alex. She didn't think it was weird him and Meredith were hanging out in bed together. They'd been inseparable for weeks, and although it was a bit weird, everyone had basically just accepted it.

Meredith smirked. Back when George lived at the house, Meredith and Izzie would occasionally climb into bed with him and bitch about their crappy love lives. This was all too similar. _It's weird how things change_. Meredith thought.

"You too?" Meredith asked, referring to the seemingly never-ending day all of them had had. Izzie hadn't been around much lately, and Meredith was glad to get a chance to talk to her.

"You have no idea." She answered.

"What's got your panties in a twist, Iz?" Alex asked, also curious as to what their fellow intern and roommate had been up to.

"I got in a fight with M-" She stopped suddenly, re-thinking her words. "... Someone."

"Iz, does this... someone, have anything to do with you being out every night and never coming home anymore?" Meredith asked tentatively.

"No. Maybe." Izzie sighed heavily. "... Yeah." She finally admitted.

"Who's the lucky guy?" Alex asked, as he and Meredith both turned to look at their blonde friend. Alex had been wondering who Izzie had been spending all her time with. He knew that him and Meredith had been a bit preoccupied with each other lately, George was spending all of his time with Callie, and Izzie would never hang out with Cristina alone. And it had to be someone at the hospital, interns just didn't have the time to go out and meet people.

Izzie glanced over to her friends. "Look... I want to tell you guys. I'm just not ready yet. Give me some time, okay?" She got up and headed towards the door. "I promise you two will be the first to know." She smiled.

Alex and Meredith both nodded and dropped the subject. They didn't think it would be right to push Izzie to talk. They _were _keeping their own dirty secret, after all.

Izzie headed back to her own room, and Alex and Meredith snuggled up for a good nights sleep.


	13. Chapter 13

**_A/N: This chapter is kind of just plot development. I don't really know what I think about it, so I'd love to hear your thoughts! Love it or hate it?_**

* * *

The next few weeks went by mostly uneventful. Everyone was busy at the hospital, and besides a few stolen moments on their lunch break, and over morning coffee, Meredith and Alex didn't see much of each other.

It was early on a Monday morning and Meredith had just gotten to the hospital. She couldn't get Alex out of her head. They hadn't had sex in far too long, and she had an itch that was desperate to be scratched. There was only one person that could satisfy her the way she needed, and she prayed they had coinciding breaks today.

That hope was quickly dashed as soon as Bailey gave assignments. Alex was assigned to Sloan's service and Meredith knew he'd be running around fetching coffee's and donuts all day. Mark Sloan never gave his interns a minute to spare.

Meredith's sulk quickly grew when the words "Grey, you're with Montgomery-Shepherd." Left Bailey's mouth. She hadn't been assigned to Addison's service for weeks, and it was no secret around the hospital that the two women didn't get along. Meredith didn't know what the day would hold, but she knew it wouldn't be pleasant.

"Good luck with Satan." Cristina nudged her on her way out of the locker room, which received a harsh glare from Meredith.

* * *

Meredith found the red-haired attending standing in the NICU checking on the premies, and grudgingly made her way over to the woman.

"Dr. Grey." Addison nodded in greeting.

"Good morning, Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd. What's on the agenda today?" She did her best to sound pleasant. She didn't really have a problem with Addison. She had a problem with Addison having a problem with her. Derek had chosen Addison. Meredith accepted that. It was _him_ who wouldn't let her move on. It pissed Meredith off that Addison was blaming her for that.

"You're in for a treat, Grey. We're delivering quadruplets in a few hours." Meredith's eyes brightened as Addison handed her the chart. "Read up, I'll page you in a half hour."

Meredith took the chart and hurried to find and empty room where she could concentrate. It wasn't everyday you got to deliver quadruplets, and she wanted to memorize every detail of the case. She wanted to impress Addison, to prove to her that she wasn't the 'immature 12-year-old' she'd been dubbed.

* * *

"Mrs. Lee, this is Dr. Grey. She'll be preparing you for surgery, and assisting me in the OR." Addison spoke to kindly to the very pregnant asian woman, who was currently rubbing her hands along her rather huge stomach."

"Please, call me Nancy." She smiled up at Meredith. "Mrs. Lee is my mother-in-law."

"Good morning Nancy, how are you feeling?" Meredith asked.

"Huge, hormonal, excited, freaking out. Take you're pick." She laughed.

"That's to be expected." Meredith responded with a smile of her own, as she started to prepare the woman for her C-Section.

Addison finished reviewing the woman's chart one last time. "Looks like we're about ready to go here. We'll take good care of you." She winked.

"Thank you so much, for everything, Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd."

"Just doing my job." Addison patted the woman's arm before turning to leave. "Page me if you need anything, Dr. Grey. See you down there, Nancy." Her heels clacked against the tile as she left the room.

"So how long have you two known each other?" Mrs. Lee suddenly asked Meredith.

"Excuse me?" Meredith responded, confused.

"You and Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd. You work so well together, you must be good friends."

Meredith laughed at the idea. "Not exactly..." Her and Addison? Good friends? She must be kidding.

"Ooh, I smell a good story." Nancy eyes twinkled with delight.

"You could say that." Meredith smirked.

"Oh c'mon, you've got to give me more than that! I'm stuck in this bed with 4 littles ones moving around in my stomach. Give a girl a break."

Meredith laughed again. The woman was hard to say no to.

"Well, when I started my internship, I sorta had a thing... with an Attending. A neuro-surgeon." Meredith started. Her eyes glazed over as she remembered the beginning of her relationship with Derek. It seemed like such a long time ago.

"Ooh girl, it doesn't get much better than that!"

"That's what I thought too. 'Til I found out McDreamy was McMarried."

Nancy's eyebrows disappeared into her hairline. "Oh. I'm assuming that's where Dr. Montgomery-_Shepherd_ comes in."

"That would be correct." Meredith sighed. "Long story short, I asked him to choose, and he chose her. Needless to say, I'm not high on Addison's list of favorite people."

"Wow, you guys are like a walking soap-opera." Nancy admitted.

"Tell me about it. This hospital's worse than high school." Meredith rolled her eyes.

"Well if it makes you feel any better, I don't think she dislikes you as much as you think. After all, I've been around the two of you for a little while and I thought you were friends." She shrugged.

Meredith thought about what the woman was saying. It was true, Addison was acting much friendlier to Meredith. She wondered what had changed the doctors attitude.

"Okay enough gossip, lets go deliver your babies." Meredith laughed.

* * *

The surgery went very smoothly and Nancy delivered 4 very strong, healthy babies. Addison even let Meredith perform a majority of the surgery. She certainly wasn't complaining, but as more and more time went by, Meredith realized that Mrs. Lee was right. Addison was acting much nicer towards her, and the intern wondered what had happened to cause this sudden change.

As the two women were scrubbing out, Meredith decided to broach the subject.

"Addison...?" The woman seemed startled at the use of her first name.

"Yes, Dr. Grey?"

"Don't take this the wrong way or anything... but, why are you being so nice to me?"

Addison looked up at Meredith. She figured this conversation might come up eventually. It was obvious how differently she was treating her. The truth was she was ashamed of the assumptions that she had made. She figured giving the intern a couple good surgeries wouldn't hurt.

"After I heard about Derek's little stunt in the OR a few weeks ago, I was pissed off. At him, and at you." Addison leaned against the sink. "No offense." She added. "Anyway, I was sort of venting to Karev, and he set me straight."

"What?" Meredith eyebrows shot up. "What do you mean, he 'set you straight'?"

"Well, I was angry. I thought you loved the attention you were getting from Derek, and enjoyed being the center of attention, and said as much. But, Karev was quick to lay that blame on Derek. Once I realized that I was wrong, once I found out you were with Alex, I felt bad about treating you so poorly. So... here we are."

"Woah, back up. What do you mean that you 'found out I was with Alex'? "

"He sort of let it slip that you two were an item. He didn't tell you?" Her words were lost as Meredith stormed out of the scrub room, leaving a very confused Addison in her wake.

* * *

Meredith was livid. She didn't even know why she was so mad, but she it was because Alex was apparently going around telling people they were an item. Maybe it was because Alex was going around telling people they were an item, without talking about it with her first. Maybe it was because Alex was going around telling _Addison _they were an item.

She ran up the stairs towards the plastics wing, looking for a specific dark-haired intern. She saw him leaning up against a nurses station, jotting notes in a chart.

"Alex." She hissed as she grabbed his arm and dragged him into a supply closet.

Alex mistook her anger for passion and tried to kiss her. But all of Meredith's thoughts about a naked Karev, were out the window. She could scratch her own damn itch.

She pushed him away forecfully. "I can't believe you!" She screamed.

"What the hell?" He asked with questions in his eyes. "Mer, what did I do?"


	14. Chapter 14

_**A/N: Yay for fast updating! And please don't throw things at me, we needed a little tension in the story ;) Review, review, review!**_

* * *

"_What the hell?" He asked with questions in his eyes. "Mer, what did I do?"_

"What did you do?" Meredith continued to shout. "How about telling Addison, my ex-boyfriends_ wife_, that we're together!"

Alex sighed, knowing immediately what she was talking about. He knew she wouldn't be happy about it, but he'd never imagined she'd be _this_ upset.

"Meredith, let me explain..." If he didn't get her to stop shouting, no doubt all of the staff outside of the closet would know what was going on in a matter of seconds.

"Yes, Alex, please explain." She cut him off. "Explain how Addison Montgomery-_Shepherd_ is suddenly your new best friend. Explain how you thought it would be a _good_ idea to confide in her. Explain how you thought telling someone that we have a thing, without speaking to me about it first, was a good decision. Please explain!"

"If you'd shut up for two seconds, I would!" He was getting irritated with her outburst. She was attacking him and she didn't even know the whole story.

She gestured with her hand for him to continue, but her eyes didn't lose any of their sting.

"After I got kicked off Shepherd's service I went to Addison to see if I could help out in the NICU. She was in a really pissy mood and I asked her why. She said something about Derek and you and all of the drama around the hospital. She starting insulting you, and saying all kinds of things about you wanting Derek. I tried to convince her that you were moving on, but she didn't believe me. So I explained that you were moving on with me. Well actually I kind of shouted it. I was_ defending_ you."

"Look-" Meredith started, jabbing her finger into his chest.

"No, you've done enough talking. Let me finish." He removed her hand from his chest, and he continued. "I know you're probably worried about her telling Derek, I was worried she would tell people at first too, but she stopped me on my way out of the hospital that night and promised she wouldn't say anything. And she hasn't. I figured since that wasn't an issue, that there was no reason to stress you out." Alex was trying to make Meredith understand that he had had good intentions.

"This isn't about Derek!" Meredith, apparently, didn't know how to use her inside voice. "I couldn't care less about him!"

"Then _why_ are you so upset?" He asked exasperated. Alex truly couldn't come up with another reason why she would be so mad.

"I'm upset because you decided to talk to _Addison_, of all people, about us. I'm upset because you told her we were_ together_, without even discussing this thing that we have," She motioned between the two of them. "with me first."

"What do you mean 'this thing', Meredith?" Alex asked confused. "It's called a relationship."

Meredith's eyes widened at his last word. "This is what I'm talking about! You assuming things!" She threw her hands up in the air. "We never talked about being exclusive and then you go telling people we're an item!"

Alex starting laughing, but it was far from pleasant.

"You've got to be kidding me. That's what this is about?" He shook his head in disbelief. "I thought you left all of those commitment issues behind when things ended with Shepherd!"

"That's the thing, Alex! You knew I have trouble with this sort of stuff. That's why you said we could just try this out... friends, sex, no commitment, no strings!" Her anger was turning into frustration. "And then you go tell Addison that we're together, and I just, I don't know what to think. I don't know if I'm ready for that and you didn't even talk to me about it!"

"Meredith, I didn't think there was anything to talk about! You are my best friend. It's been weeks. We do everything together. We sleep in the same bed every night. We kiss. We have sex. That sounds like a couple to me, Mer! You are my girlfriend, I am your boyfriend. I thought that was obvious!"

"Well, it wasn't! Don't you think that maybe we should talk about those things? Neither one of us good at communication, so making assumptions obviously just causes problems!"

"I can't believe you, Meredith! We have a good thing going here. You know I'm no good at relationships, so the fact that I'm fighting for this should tell you something. I know that we can do this, because I'm crazy about you! I love you, Meredith! And I know that you love me too."

Meredith just started at him in shock. Had he really just said those three words to her? Had he really just admitted his love to her? Her head was spinning. She couldn't find her voice, and wouldn't know what to say even if she could.

Alex had known for awhile that he had felt this way about Meredith, but he knew her tendency to run away from those sort of proclamations, so he was worried about how she would react. But he was confident in what they had now, and in their potential to be something greater. It was the first time in his life he thought he could actually have a real future with someone, and he wasn't about to let her throw it all away because she was scared.

He knew those things, but right then, he started doubting everything. He just couldn't let go of his anger. At least not right now. He couldn't believe the things that she was saying. Did she really not think they were a couple? Had he imagined their connection? Was this really going to work?

"You know what, Mer? You need to grow up. Come find me when you decide to handle this like a mature adult." With that he stormed out of the closet, slamming the door behind him.

* * *

Meredith's chest tightened at the sound of the door closing. She sank to the floor, and hot tears started streaming down her face.

Alex was her best friend, besides Cristina of course, and she was terrified she just lost one of the most important people in her life.

She didn't even know if her reason for being upset with him was valid. Was he right? Was she just scared? Hearing the words come out of Addison's mouth had thrown her for a loop. It had made everything real. She wasn't prepared for someone other than her person, to know about her and Alex. It caused her to think about what they really were, and that freaked her out.

Trying the commitment thing with Derek had ended in disaster. It was possible her subconscious didn't want to label what she had with Alex, for fear it would end the same way.

But, who was she kidding? Alex was right, everything he had said was 100% correct. Most importantly, the fact that she loved him too. Because in that moment, sobbing on the floor of a supply closet, in the Plastics wing of Seattle Grace Hospital, Meredith Grey came to the realization that she did in fact love Alex Karev.


	15. Chapter 15

_**A/N: This is kind of a filler chapter. Hope you enjoy :)**_

* * *

Meredith walked into Joe's later that night, feeling like the scum of the Earth. She didn't even need to order, as she sat down at the bar. Joe took one look at her face and placed a shot glass and a bottle of tequila in front of her.

"Bad day?" He asked sympathetically.

"You have no idea." Meredith poured herself a shot and reflected back on the events of the day.

After composing herself in the supply closet Meredith tried to return to work, where she got chewed out from Addison for missing three 911 pages. A 26 year old woman who was 8 months pregnant was in a car accident, and had severe brain damage and several broken bones.

Dr. Montgomery decided delivering the baby was the best chance of survival for mother and child. But the little boy had sustained too much trauma and died on the table.

After the surgery Derek announced that the mother's brain damage was so severe, that it wasn't likely the woman was going to wake up.

She had potentially ruined her relationship with Alex. Her attending thought she was an incompetent 12-year-old, and she lost 2 patients.

So yeah, Meredith had a bad day.

Her solution? Get remarkably and shamelessly smashed.

* * *

A few hours, an 2 empty bottles of tequila later, Meredith was thoroughly drunk.

Joe decided it was time for her to go home. He was a little concerned for Meredith, not because of the amount of alcohol she'd consumed, but because he hadn't seen her this upset in months. Not since she was left by Dr. Shepherd. Instead of calling a cab, Joe phoned the one person he knew would take care of her.

Cristina arrived within minutes.

She saw Meredith swaying on her stool, and took one look at her blood-shot eyes, and she knew exactly why Joe had called her.

"How much did she have?" Cristina asked the friendly bartender.

"Two bottles." He shrugged.

Cristina's eyebrows rose. "You didn't cut her off?"

"You should've seen her before." Joe answered. "She needed it.

Cristina just nodded. She knew how stressed and depressed Meredith could get. She just hoped that it wouldn't be too serious this time. She had enough of her own problems to deal with right now. She needed Meredith to be bright and shiny and take care of herself for a few weeks.

But there was no way she was going to skip out on her duties as Meredith's "person". So here she was.

Cristina then put Meredith's arm around her own neck so she could help her outside. "C'mon Mer, time to go home."

"No!" Meredith slurred as she stumbled towards the door, with the help of Cristina. "I can't go home."

"Why not?" Cristina asked, surprised.

"'Cause Alex, Alex is there." She nodded in affirmation, like her statement made perfect sense.

"What does Karev have to do with-. You know what, never mind. I don't even want to know." Cristina shook her head. She wondered what kind of drama her friend had gotten into this time. Now that she knew Alex was involved, it explained why Meredith was so upset. "You're coming home with me, let's go."

* * *

When they arrived back at Burke's place, Cristina gave Meredith an aspirin, a glass of water, and a pillow, and sent her to the couch.

Cristina knew Alex would be worried about Meredith not coming home so before she went to sleep she fired off a quick text to calm his mind.

_She's with me. She's fine._

On the other side of town, Alex read the message and gave a huge sigh of relief. He _had_ been worried that Meredith still hadn't come home that night. But part of him hadn't expected her to. She was known for avoiding people after difficult situations. And she was a big girl, a grown woman.

He thought she would probably be at Joe's drinking, which is precisely why he hadn't gone there. He refused to chase her. If Meredith wanted to fix this relationship she was going to have to come to him.

He was still hurt at the things that she said. Which scared him, because he couldn't remember the last time he got close enough to a woman that she could hurt him. But Meredith had, and he wasn't going to let it go easily.

But Alex was grateful to Cristina, glad that she knew enough to let him know that Meredith was safe. And he was also very pleased to hear that she was with her best friend and hadn't gone home with some random guy from the bar.

A part of him felt bad for assuming that was a possibility. But what was he supposed to think? She'd obviously was afraid to be committed to one person. Even if it was Alex.

* * *

It was barely morning when Cristina woke Meredith, who groaned in resistance.

"Cristina?" She asked as she finally opened her eyes.

"Rise and shine." Cristina answered, not looking so shiny her self.

"Why are we getting up so early?" She mumbled. "We don't have to be at the hospital for..." She looked at the clock. "three hours!"

"Here." Cristina ignored her question, and handed her a cup of coffee. "Drink."

Meredith sat up and took the mug. "Uh." She groaned in pain and put her hand on her head. "Make the room stop spinning."

Cristina just raised and eyebrow at her, and sat in the chair next to the couch with her own cup of caffeine.

* * *

Three cups and two aspirin later, Meredith looked exceptionally better.

"Stop staring at me." She finally said. Cristina had been looking at her without pause for the better part of 20 minutes.

"I'm just trying to figure out why Joe had to call me in the middle of the night to go pick you up because you were too drunk to even get yourself from a cab to your doorstep." Cristina shrugged in response. "Not that you would've gone home anyway."

Meredith sighed. She knew Cristina deserved an explanation, but she didn't know where to start. Her friend understood the look on her face and sighed.

"Why don't you start at the beginning."

But instead Meredith started with her case. She told Cristina all about getting yelled at by Addison. How small and stupid it had made her feel. How she questioned her ability to be a great surgeon. She told her friend how upsetting it had been when she lost both patients.

"That sucks." Cristina said. She had heard about the case and thought it might have something to do with Meredith being so upset. But she also knew it wasn't the whole story. Meredith just nodded.

"But, it's not enough for you to drink yourself into oblivion. Besides there was no mention of Alex in that story. And I know Karev has something to do with this." Cristina continued.

Meredith rolled her eyes, but decided she really did need Cristina's advice. She began to tell the horrifying, embarrassing, story of her encounter with Alex. Reliving the moment that Alex stormed away from her, brought new tears springing to her eyes.

"So was I right?" Meredith asked when she finished. "I mean, he should've talked to me about being exclusive, right? 'Cause you don't think we were a couple, do you?" She fidgeted, waiting for her friend's response. She hadn't said a word the entire time Meredith was speaking.

Cristina just smacked Meredith in the back of the head.

"Ow! What was that for?" Meredith rubbed her already sore head.

"Because you're an idiot!"

Meredith sighed. She was worried that's what Cristina was going to say. "I made a mistake, didn't I?

Cristina snorted. "I'd say so. How could you think you guys weren't in a relationship? Even I didn't think you were that stupid."

"Ugh, _why_ did I do that?" Meredith asked as she put her face in her hands. She'd really made a mess of things this time.

"Because you're scared." Cristina answered. Meredith looked up at her. "You had commitment issues to begin with. And then McDreamy came along and screwed you up even more. I get it."

Meredith stared at her friend, waiting for her to continue.

"But, Karev's right. You need to grow up. I really don't think you need to worry about him. I've never seen him like this about a girl before. He really cares about you."

"I think I really hurt him." Meredith said with a low voice.

"Then fix it." Cristina said, like it was most obvious answer to Meredith's problems.

"How am I supposed to do that?" The blonde rolled her eyes.

"Look, Mer. Do you love the guy or not?"

"Yeah... I do." Meredith said.

"Then get off your ass and go tell him. You're not really going to let this be the end, are you?"

"I don't even know if he'll forgive me."

"You're not gonna know if you don't try." Cristina was never one for mushy proclamations of any kind, but she made an exception. She wanted her friend to be happy. And Alex made her happy. There was no way she would let Meredith throw it away.

Meredith thought for a minute and then stood up with a new sense of purpose. "Okay." She smiled at her friend, she understood now why Cristina had gotten her up so early. "Thanks Cris."

"Get out of here." Cristina said. "And you better not screw it up, 'cause there's no way I'm doing this again." She added just before the door closed.

Meredith just laughed, and then ran towards the stairwell. She had boyfriend to apologize to.


	16. Chapter 16

**_A/N: Sorry for the late update! Hope you enjoy :) R&R!_**

* * *

Meredith barged into her house 20 minutes later. It was dark and quiet and she figured Alex was still asleep. Izzie was rarely there anymore, so she wasn't worried about waking her.

Meredith took the stairs two at a time, then went straight to Alex's door. She just ran right in, knowing if she paused to think about what she'd say, she'd probably lose her nerve.

"What the hell?" Alex said groggily, woken by the sudden presence of another person in his room. He half sat up in bed, resting his weight on his elbow. "Mer?"

"I made a mistake." She said breathlessly. "I'm so sorry, so unbelievably sorry for everything I said to you yesterday. You were right, I was scared. I'm terrified of commitment, of getting hurt. And when you said all those amazing, wonderful things to me, my first instinct was to run away. Because admitting to those feelings gave you the power to hurt me. I thought that labeling what we have could... I don't know, ruin it? But as soon as you walked away, I knew I was wrong. I was so freaking scared that I had just lost you forever. And I know that's still a possibility, and you don't have to forgive me right now, you don't even have to talk to me. I just want you to know how right you were, and how much I care about you. I do love you, Alex. It just took the threat of not having you for me to realize it."

Alex needed a minute to think. He hadn't been asleep long, just a few hours. It had taken forever for him to put thoughts of Meredith in the back of his head, and finally let unconsciousness take over. Then suddenly he was awake, and she was there, in his room, apologizing. Saying everything he'd been praying she'd figure out eventually. He knew that she'd come to her senses, and 'come find him when she decided to handle this like a mature adult', as he'd asked. He just didn't expect it to be 5 o'clock the next morning.

"Um..." He finally managed to get out.

"I can give you a minute..." Meredith started to leave the room, her cheeks flushed, realizing that he must've felt bombarded by her sudden and unexpected speech.

"No, wait! I just need a minute to process, is all. Stay, c'mere." He motioned to the bed and she slowly made her way over to him. She was unusually self-conscious. She'd never felt the need to hide herself in Alex's presence, but she'd just bared her heart to him, and it left her feeling exposed and vulnerable.

"Meredith, I..." Alex ran his hand over his face. "I don't really know what to say to you. Those things you said to me... they really hurt. I never let myself get this close to a woman. You don't this is scary for me too? I've never done this before. I thought what we had was special, and suddenly it felt like you were dismissing all of it-"

"It is special!" Meredith cut him off mid-sentence. "I've never experienced anything like this before. I just freaked out, and I'm sorry. You were right, I need to grow up. I'm not used to being held accountable for the things I say and do. But you're there, and you tell me when I'm acting like a child, and you tell me when to calm down and when to stand up for myself. And I want to be here too. I want to tell you when you're being an ass, and when you're snide comments go just a bit too far, and I want to have a real, true, actual relationship with you. I do, Alex. I want to do this, I want us. I'm all in, I'm giving one hundred percent of myself to this. No more second-guessing, no more over-thinking. I'm _with_ you."

Alex listened intently as Meredith poured her heart out for the second time in less than 2 minutes. She wasn't the type to give long, mushy, proclamations of love, so when she said things like this, he knew she meant it.

He looked up at the woman standing before him, and was hit with another wave of how crazy he was about her. It was nothing new to him. He had these moments often. The way she chewed on the end of her pen when she poured over charts, the adorable snores she made just after she fell asleep, the sparkle in her eye when she got to perform surgery, the smell of lavender that seemed to surround her, the way she could down shots of tequila like there was no tomorrow, or how she managed to have the perfect balance of 'Dark and Twisty' and 'Bright and Shiny'. Those were the small things that made her _Meredith_. The things that made him realize how beautiful, and intelligent, and perfect for him, she was. And if she was willing to give this a shot, than there was no way in hell was he going to refuse her.

"Meredith..." Alex answered her slowly.

"Yeah?" She looked down at him, biting her lip, obviously nervous about his reaction to all of this.

"You're forgiven." He said with a smirk. With that he cupped her face with the palm of his hands and pulled her down for one of the most unforgettable kisses she'd ever had. He poured every once of love he had for her into that kiss, and she returned it with just as much emotion.

When they pulled apart for air, Meredith gave a huge breath of relief.

"I love you." She said, as she gave the most genuine smile she'd ever had, to the man that she could officially call _hers._

"I love you , too." Alex smiled back at Meredith, brushing some hair from her face and placing it behind her ear. "You know what the best part of our fight is?" He asked as he gave his classic Evil Spawn smirk.

"What?" Meredith asked suspiciously.

"Make-up sex." He said, as the two fell, giggling, onto the bed in a pile of limbs and kisses.

* * *

"So I was thinking..." Alex spoke awhile later, as the two were laying in post-coital bliss.

"Yeah?" Meredith asked, enjoying the feel of his fingers tracing patterns on her back.

"We need to tell Izzie about us."

Meredith placed her hand on Alex's chest, pushing up to face him.

"Okay."

"I mean, since we're officially a _thing_." Alex smiled as he spoke the last word, purposely mocking Meredith. "I don't want to hide our relationship in our own house. I want to be comfortable here with you."

"I like that idea." Meredith responded. "And I really don't think she'll have a problem with it. But that means we have to tell George, too."

"Bambi? Why?"

"Because he'll be the only one of the five of us who won't know. We can't just not tell him." Meredith was surprisingly worried about telling George, though. She had a feeling he wouldn't be totally accepting of the two of them. They were all friends, sure. But George had always had a firm belief that Alex was no more than an arrogant womanizer, and coupled with his protectiveness over his female friends, it was a recipe for disaster.

"Alright, alright, we'll tell O'Malley." Alex gave in easily. He was protesting more for Meredith's benefit, anyway. He wanted to be out in the open with her. He was proud of their relationship, and he wanted to show her off. But he knew she needed a little more time to get comfortable with the idea, and he respected that.

"And I promise we'll tell everyone soon. I just want to enjoy this a little while longer, before we have to deal with everyone's opinions and gossip." Meredith told him, practically reading his mind.

"I understand. Whenever you're ready." Alex gave her a quick kiss. "In the meantime... we really should get up and shower. We have to get to the hospital soon."

"I know, you're right." Meredith sighed. She wished the morning could last forever. It was one of the happiest and most comfortable moments she'd had in a very long time. She was absolutely content, a rarity for her. And she wasn't looking forward to leaving the warmth of Alex's bed to deal with the stress and hard work that came with being a surgical intern.

But she reluctantly disentangled herself from the strong arms that were wrapped around her, and headed towards the bathroom.

Alex smiled as he watched Meredith walk away. He knew this was the start of something beautiful. He could deal with whatever hardships or difficulties that would no doubt be thrown their way, as long as she was there by his side.

"God, when did I become such a sap?" He asked out loud to himself. A voice inside his head reminded him: When you fell in love.


End file.
